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The
Kindergarten Operetta
Written February
7, 2001
By the time that I entered kindergarten, I could already read.
I assume that I had learned by paying attention when my mother or
father read aloud to me. By observing which black marks on the
page seemed to go with which words, I figured out the code.
One day,
so the story goes, my parents noticed me reading aloud to
myself. But I might have simply been remembering the story and
pretending to read it, so they gave me something that I hadn't seen
before. I read that too. They were proud.
For six
months in 1952, our family lived in Newark, Ohio, and I started
kindergarten there. Then we moved to Richwood, Ohio, in
November, and I transferred to that kindergarten. In both
places, the teachers were surprised to find that they had a literate
student in their class, and they sometimes had me show off my
abilities (perhaps to inspire others to learn the trick, too).

I had been
in Richwood only a few months when the kindergarten class put on its
annual show: an "operetta" called The Children of
Old Mother Goose. It was staged on Friday, April 17, 1953
at the school auditorium, located in the Richwood High School
building (later to become the North Union Middle School).
I was
assigned the role of Dr. Foster, the secretary to the Children of
Mother Goose. For purposes of exposition of the plot, I was to
read a document to the Children at
the start of their annual convention.
The
Children agree that they need a new mother because Old Mother Goose
has been chasing her geese too much, so they vote to join the Old
Woman in the Shoe. In Act II, they discover that the Old Woman
is cruel to them and decide that they want to return to Mother Goose
after all. In Act III, Mother Goose welcomes her children home,
and everyone is happy again.

My
father's office manager, Hazel Mae Bowersmith,
typed up my part in all capital letters and put it inside a ledger book.
For
another photo:
As far as
I can remember, the show went as smoothly as one could expect.
(We were a bunch of kindergarten children, after all.) The
teacher, Georgia Cramer, wrote in the program that it was "an
experience long to be remembered." She thanked the mothers
for their help. "You were so kind and willing to assist in
every way. Without you, our Operetta could not have been a
success. With you, we have tried hard and feel that our first
real 'show' has been a success."

For
members of the RHS Class of 1965 who might still remember, here's an
alphabetical list of the cast.
One
of 3 Little Farmers |
Bobby |
Allinder |
Polly
Put the Kettle On |
Tami |
Baker |
Tom,
Tom, the Piper's Son |
Stevie |
Ballinger |
See
Saw Margery Daw |
Sheryl |
Berry |
Curly
Locks |
Barbara |
Bugg |
One
of Three Fiddlers |
Randy |
Chapman |
Jack
(of Jack & Jill) |
Danny |
Converse |
One
of 3 Little Farmers |
Jerry |
Douglas |
King
Cole |
Kelly |
Drake |
One
of 3 Little Mothers |
Kathleen |
Ehle |
One
of 3 Little Mothers |
Kittie |
Erwin |
Humpty
Dumpty |
Terry |
Erwin |
Little
Miss Muffet |
Mary
Jo |
Fetter |
One
of 3 Little Mothers |
Lorraine |
Gilkerson |
Old
Woman in the Shoe |
Lynne |
Glass |
Peter,
Peter Pumpkin Eater |
Mike |
Hamilton |
One
of Three Fiddlers |
Spencer |
Jordan |
Daffy
Down Dilly |
Sherry |
Keigley |
Muffin
Man |
Mike |
Ledley |
Little
Bo Peep |
Sue |
Livingston |
Billy
Boy |
Bobby |
Marvin |
Mary
Quite Contrary |
Judy |
Miller |
Jack
Be Nimble |
Harry |
Millington |
Polly
Flinders |
Pamela |
Minke |
Tin
Soldier |
Bill |
Mowery |
Jack
Horner |
Johnny |
Oberdier |
Old
Mother Hubbard |
Trudy |
Oman |
Mother
Goose |
Linda |
Parish |
Mayor
of Toytown |
Iver |
Phallen |
Page |
Ricky |
Ridge |
Mary
with the Little Lamb |
Laurann |
Reese |
Page |
Denny |
Roberts |
Bobby
Shaftoe |
Terry |
Rockhold |
Peter
Pumpkin Eater's Wife |
Lois |
Smith |
Tom
Tucker |
Criss |
Somerlot |
One
of Three Fiddlers |
David |
Stallsmith |
Jill
(of Jack & Jill) |
Dianne |
Steele |
Yankee
Doodle Dandy |
Nicky |
Taylor |
Dr.
Foster |
Tommy |
Thomas |
Little
Boy Blue |
Nicky |
Walker |
Jack
in the Box |
Ernie |
Wheeler |
One
of 3 Little Farmers |
Charles |
Wood |
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Between
acts, there were vocal solos by Sherry Keigley and Pamela Minke
(whose mother Ruth Minke played the piano for the show), and also a
tap dance by Sheryl Berry. |
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